Mayor Eric Adams on Friday tapped mental health counselor and researcher Vijah Ramjattan to lead the city’s hate crimes prevention unit months after firing the job’s last occupant.
Hizzoner appointed Ramjattan executive director of the Mayor’s Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes (OPHC) on Jan. 3. In his new role, Ramjattan will coordinate efforts across city agencies to prevent bias-based incidents at the community level and support victims of hate crimes across the Big Apple.
“New York City is the greatest city in the world because of our extensive diversity, and to stamp out hate wherever it rears its ugly head, we need a leader that will help ensure that New Yorkers have the tools needed to be part of the solution,” the mayor said in a statement.
Ramjattan previously worked as a research administrator at the state Psychiatric Institute-Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, according to the mayor’s office. Prior to that, he worked for the city’s Department of Correction as a counselor and grievance coordinator on Rikers Island.
“While hate crimes are down in our city, year over year, Vijah’s decade worth experience in community engagement, advocacy in marginalized communities, and mental health counseling makes him uniquely qualified to hit the ground running and combat hate crimes across the five boroughs,” Adams said.
The mayor also appointed Erica Ware as Ramjattan’s deputy executive director and Jelissa Thomas as a senior project manager for the hate crimes prevention unit. Ware previously worked as deputy director of the Victim Services Unit for the Richmond County District Attorney’s office and Thomas was a teacher at Equity Project Charter School.
Adams named Ramjattan to the role nearly a year after he fired the position’s last occupant: Hassan Naveed.
In published reports, Naveed contends that Adams terminated him in April because he is Muslim. He has taken steps to sue Adams’ administration for wrongful termination.
For his part, the mayor denied that Naveed was fired because of his religion during an April 30 news conference. Instead, the mayor said that Naveed was fired because he failed to bring down the number of hate crimes in the city.
“You’re given a responsibility in a role; you’re in charge of hate crimes; I’m seeing an increase in hate crimes,” Adams said at the time. “People have to live up to what they’re hired to do, taxpayers deserve that.”
The mayor’s comments spurred Naveed to also pursue a defamation and retaliation suit against him, according to a December report by the Daily News.
